Recently people with minor health complaints (MHC) (i. e. irritability and fatigue) have been increasing. A randomized，single-blind study determines whether ingesting barley with high content of functional compounds (GABA, β-glucan, fructan) improves body condition including MHC in healthy adults was carried out. A total of 44 healthy subjects (ages: 23–60 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group received steamed barley cv. “Ichibanboshi” and the test group received steamed barley cv. “Hokuriku hadakamochi 68”. Several stress responses including MHC, bowel movement, body composition were analyzed at weeks 0, 4 and 8 of the intake periods. MHC was assessed by the Brief Job-Stress Questionnaire that uses the items for liveliness, irritability, fatigue, and body complaints. The test group significantly showed higher liveliness and tended to show lower fatigue compared with control group at 8 week, and but not for other MHC items described above. Changes of several mental stress responses expressed visual analogue scale from 0 to 4 week tented to be improved in test group compared with control group, and but not for at 8 week. Defecation frequency in test group was higher than that of control group, but those were within normal status. There was no difference in body composition between two groups. Hence, an intake of “Hokuriku hadakamochi 68” might improve mental stress responses although future study using objective indicators and optimum intake period will be needed to clarify those effects.

A dysphagia diet consists of texture-modified food for people with swallowing disturbances. Pureed rice porridge is prepared as a staple food for the dysphagia diet by homogenizing the porridge and solidifying it with gelling agents; however, much time and effort is required to prepare this porridge. Rice flour prepared from high-amylose rice forms a soft gel that is easy to swallow when boiled with 10 times its weight with water and then cooled. The soft jelly made from high-amylose rice flour may simplify the preparation of pureed rice porridges. Texture of starch gel depends on concentration and temperature, which need to be controlled to prepare rice flour porridge correctly. To determine the appropriate amount of rice flour and temperature conditions, the texture of the rice flour jelly was tested at various temperatures after cooking. Significant positive correlation between the amount of rice flour used and firmness of the prepared rice flour jelly was observed at 4°C, 24°C, and 45°C. The appropriate weight of rice flour when cooked for one meal was 9.1%(w/w). Rice flour jelly prepared at a concentration of 9.1%(w/w) maintained an appropriate texture and could be used as a dysphagia diet, whether it was cooled naturally at room temperature, stored at 65°C, or cooled at 4°C and reheated after cooling. These results suggest that the texture of rice flour jelly can be adjusted according to the ability to swallow in individuals with dysphagia by controlling not only the concentration of rice flour, but also the temperature.

This research was conducted to verify quantitatively the effects of "Data-driven production", which depends on both the integrated agricultural datasets and their analysis to obtain higher yield of next year, in large-scale rice production. Datasets contains yield of each field measured by combine, and data collected from all cultivation practices. Data were collected at farm corporation, located in southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, approximately 160 ha in total, growing its scale through "extension of both transplanting and harvesting duration through the combination of multiple cultivars", during 5 years since 2019, when the farm participated the research project of "smart agriculture acceleration demonstration" funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries through 2 years, until 2023 with 3 years of follow-up. Major improvements and their results were as follows: Earlier transplanting orders were allocated to a low-amylose cultivar and a glutinous cultivar, those are sold at higher price, resulting in stable yield due to better climate condition during ripening. Fields of 'Koshihikari' were aggregated to the block where large-scale fields exist, resulting in faster machine operation. Pesticide for stink bugs was applied to the early-maturing cultivars, whose panicles emerged earlier than nearby fields, since 2020. Lodging-resistant late-maturing cultivars were chosen to the late-transplanting block due to the water constraints, and high fertilization of twice topdressing by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) stabilized their yields. The increase of yield, resulting in over 110% level of common annual yield in southern Ibaraki Prefecture, was proven through these improvements of cultivation practices, based on analysis of comprehensively collected data.

The insect museum, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Japan, houses one of the largest collections of insect specimens in Asia, including primary type specimens. Institutions responsible for preserving and managing primary type specimens are mandated to take all possible measures to ensure their safe preservation. However, the insect museum had been preserving primary type specimens in outdated specimen boxes, posing a risk to the preservation of important specimens. Therefore, this study aimed to improve the management and safety of primary type specimens at the insect museum by transitioning to a recent specimen management system, utilizing unit trays in specimen boxes. This paper reports the results of this transition process and discusses the significance of employing the insect management system utilizing unit trays for managing valuable specimens such as primary type specimens.